Glad some of it made some sense and could be applicable. TBH, I don't know how I got to be able to do what I can now, other than have decades of first-hand, trial and error experience and opportunities to work with people much smarter/experienced than me.

Edit: one thing that I've been finding lately is talking things out, whether with other sr or even some jr devs, can make discoveries or uncover avenues to look into that I wouldn't have come up with on my own. So just because you reach out, it doesn't mean they can give you "the answer" but you can find one together.